Lately I've come to suspect that there may be more currency to my degree than I had initially considered. In four years of practice, I am finding that ours is a slippery and semipermeable profession. The domain of graphic design now extends into information architecture, usability, content management, experience design, social practice, design writing, and design criticism. This proliferation of new titles is reflective of an increasing imperative for designers to demonstrate capacities for critical thinking.

Our department is earnest in its attempts to adapt to this shifting paradigm, and would like to confer upon its students the opportunity to exhibit critical thinking/writing skills and gain exposure in the larger design community. And so on behalf of the department, I would like to introduce a proposed expansion of designalogue as an open forum to showcase student editorials. Students are encouraged to propose topics, synthesize ideas, and engage others in discussion. Anyone interested in contributing original editorials should speak with Jamie, Morgan, or myself.

What are some other professional fields that explicitly require critical thinking in the job description? Are there any that could benefit from critical thinking that don't presently insist upon it? Is "critical thinking" just a fancier, less condescending way of saying "creative"?